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Attack of the Concurrence
Synopsis: Using the army they created in Unnatural History, the Concurrence unleashes a devastating attack on New York City! Also features a brutal showdown between Jayson Redfield and Compton Xabat! Outskirts of New York City New York always has, and always will be one of the busiest cities in the world. The Big Apple, the city that never sleeps...Now it is nearly the state that never sleeps. New York is following in the Tokyo tradition of spreading its tentacles into everything within reach, growing and expanding. The level of technology here is rivaled only in Tokyo, the original sprawl. But here there is something different, perhaps it's the attitude. Just as you're watching your favorite show, some Spanish jerk in sunglasses interrupts it with his smirking face! "Attention EDC Command! This is Compton Xabat of the Concurrence. You are to surrender to US immediately, and give over your Autobot friends to us to use as we please. If you do not, I will use my NEW ARMY to destroy New York!" Someone in the background yells, "And I want my land back!" Xabat frowns at the off-screen person, muttering, "Quiet, Berger! In time. Ahem. You have thirty minutes to grant my demands! Xabat, OUT." Silverbolt comes into view across the ocean's expanse, traveling from the Northwest Atlantic Silverbolt has arrived. The streets of New York are in an uproar! Everyone's trying to get out of the city before the apocalypse comes, but, well, it's New York, so getting from one place to the other isn't quite that simple. The roads are all jammed with cars, and people are running everywhere. Andi Lassiter leaves the Exo-Armor Talon . Andi Lassiter has arrived. It's not easy to get around unless you can -fly-. And that's exactly what Astrotrain is doing. Coming in low over the water, he transformed from his much more conspicuous shuttle form into his robot mode, flying superman-style into the outskirts of the city. Oh yeah, the big triplechanger is being nothing short of pure nosy right now. In a chorus of shifting and spinning parts, Astrotrain's body spins and lifts up into his large robot mode. Exo-Armor Talon has arrived. Andi Lassiter drops Exo-Armor Talon . Andi Lassiter has left. Andi Lassiter enters the Exo-Armor Talon . From Autobot Shuttle , Red Alert is also flying. A shuttle. He pilots it into the area, fingers brushing expertly over the controls as he listens in on assorted radio-waves. Despite the distraction presented by so many inputs at once, he manages to keep the shuttle steady, but sighs when he attempts a sensor sweep of the area. "Might as well get out and use my own radar," the Security Direcotr mumbles. A Talon, in jet mode, speeds torward New York. Inside, Jayson has gotten into contact with his cousin via his earpiece. "Kari! Listen, take your dad and the parrot. Go down to the basement, and *stay there*. Got it? Good. Don't worry. Everything'll be okay." As the Talon reaches the city, it descends, eventually landing in front of a house. Jayson practically jumps out of the jet, and rushes to meet his family outside. "Take the animals and go down to the basement!" "Jayson?" Melsande, his mother, ventures. "What's happening?" "It's okay. There's just...something happening." He pauses. "Now get going!" Despite himself, he smiles a little. "And don't worry. I'll be fine." With that, he jumps back into his Talon and takes off, while the family disappears back into the house. "This is it, Xabat," he murmurs. "You're goin' DOWN." Oh, look, a shooting star! How lucky! Oh, wait, that must be the Concurrence space ship coming down to attack the city. Not so lucky, then. Some of the people see it and their panicking gets even worse! "Run for your lives!" "The end is nigh!" "I love you mom!" are commonly heard across the fracas. And TVs all over the city feature yet another broadcast by Compton Xabat! <> the Concorde flying as escort alongside the Alpha Trion comments. <> From Exo-Armor Talon , Sam spends the entire drop-ship trip readying his Talon for.. well, for whatever the Concurrence has in mind. Once over the skies of New York, he launches and transforms the craft into its jet mode, and starts scanning for signs of activity. Nightbeat just happens to be skulking around New York City. Would you believe he was downtown, parked outside a bar, waiting to see a deal go down? When a long cool woman in a black dress walked by... ooh, and then all chaos started to break out on the radio and on TV. He looks up. Autobot shuttle? Time to go meet up witht he rest of the team, and... shooting star? Not shooting star. Spaceship. From Exo-Armor Talon , Andi Lassiter sticks with Sam on this mission, still not entirely at ease flying one of these exo things. But, she was tapped to come along, so she's here. Twisting and shifting, the exo-suit transforms into the Talon exo-jet. Astrotrain lands in the middle of a downtown street with a heavy *TOOM* of his large feet making contact. With rifle in hand, he stalks between several buildings, sending a few people scattering with the cry of, "Decepticon!" Though with the more immediate concern of Compton's attack approaching, it's not likely he's going to get any special attention tonight. He can actually move with something akin to impunity. "I love it when squishies slaughter squishies..." He mutters. "It's kinda irony-ic." Grimlock leaves the Exo-Armor Talon . Grimlock has arrived. Compton Xabat pops in again, probably just as your show was coming back from a commercial break. He is sitting back, and looking theatrically at his watch. "Welllllll, time's up! So long, New York! I'm sure that you WERE a nice place to live. Ha ha ha ha!!!" There's some evil laughter from the other Concurrence members, but they're not in the camera shot. Berger fixes this, though. He shoves his mug right in front of it and yells, "I want my land back, damn you!" He's pushed aside by Fakkadi, who screams, "I want my dignity back!" Then Chumley shoves him aside, and he yells, "I want Disco back!" And finally, he is shoved aside by Dinsmoore, who holds a teapot up to the camera. "Would you like some tea, sahs?" From Autobot Shuttle , <> Red Alert reports to the Aerialbot commander. <> Spying the EDC representatives, he attempts to contact. <> There's a pause, then he sighs. <> Jayson Redfield says, "Xabat. Listen to me. This is IT. You've threatened my friends and family, and threatening my home city is just too much. You're going DOWN. Understand?!" Compton Xabat replies over regular radio frequencies. "What?... Settle down, everyone! We'll have our revenge... SETTLE DOWN!" Smokescreen has arrived. Exo-Armor Talon Jet ascends to meet the Concurrence ship, transforming quickly in one fluid motion, weapons at the ready. Jayson is *angry*. "Damn you, Xabat..." Twisting and shifting, the Talon exo-jet transforms into an exo-suit. "Me Grimlock hate fightin' humans." Grimlock mutters as he lands at the good guy 'rallying point' near the Concurrence ship. "Thems am not very good at it!" he grunts, and idly pulls out his double-blaster, preparing himself for the inevitable melee to come. Astrotrain continues to move from building to building, briefly tyinking about perching on one of the big ones as a lookout point, then deciding against it as a bad idea. As the exo suits move about, he watches their movements finally spotting the Autobots here as well. "Feh, I miss the days when the Autobrats used to be so terrified of even shootin in the general direction of squishies. That was hilarious..." Smokescreen is, unlike Jayson, quite cool and relaxed...that is until he comes to a stop at a light and sees that every other car but him is careening around every possible corner. The light turns green just as he decides to hit the gas before roaring off down the four lane road in the direction of the Autobot signal he has picked up on. "Man, why does everyone go after this place? Maybe they shoulda kept up the smog so people wouldn't be able to find it so easily." From Autobot Shuttle , Red Alert lands the shuttle where the other land-based heroes have gathered because, let's face it, shuttles' stats suck. Then he steps outside, sniffs the air, narrows his optics, and goes to follow the progress of the invaders, waiting for them to come into range of his weapons. Red Alert leaves the Autobot Shuttle . Red Alert has arrived. Compton Xabat doesn't deign to meet the defenders just yet. He's leaning back on the bridge of his ship, sighing in dismay as the other Concurrence members, sans the captured Astoria Carlton-Ritz, scream at a camera. "Gentlemen, gentlemen, the camera is off! That's enough! Now, on to business. Arkeville, is your giant mechanical spider ready, yet?" Dr. Arkeville looks about shiftily. "Ahhh... *yes.*" Xabat scowls at him. "Well, fortunately... we still have a host of exo-suits and fighters cooked up to give them a solid beating. Let's launch them, shall we?" exo-suits of a previously unknown design begin to pour out of the Concurrence vessel. They plummet towards the city, and begin to fire upon it randomly! From Exo-Armor Talon , Jayson Redfield's rage continues to grow. The exo's machine guns activate, firing rapidly upon the Raptian army. He looks almost insane... "GET OUT OF MY CITY!" Smokescreen gets closer and closer to the Autobot signal which places him just alongside the Autobot shuttle just as Red Alert leaps out of it. Smokescreen transforms, reaching out to tap the Autobot security specialist on the shoulder, before looking over at the ship in the distance. "Hey, Red-man. What's going on in this crazy burg?" <> Silverbolt waggles his wings briefly as he circles to cover the Autobot shuttle's landing before rising again towards the strange exo-suits. "You wanted us? Here we are," the Aerialbot's lasers spraying up toward the descending Raptians. Exo-Armor Talon strikes Raptian Army with ballistic. From Exo-Armor Talon , Sam blinks as a horde of exo-suits starts swarming out of the spaceship. He reaches for his radio button. Silverbolt strikes Raptian Army with disruptor. "Fight time! Yay!" Grimlock says- and immediately whips his blaster upwards, snapping of precise shots at spiraling exo-suits! "There lot of them, though. Me Grimlock guess that okay, since me bet they weak!" he grins, and fires off a few more blasts- and then glances back at the other assembled Autobots and Exo-suits. "Me Grimlock bet me can smash more than ANYBODY!" Grimlock strikes Raptian Army with Double-Blaster!. From Exo-Armor Talon , Andi Lassiter sees the horde about the same time that Sam does, but her reaction is simpler. She mutters a soft curse then replies to his radio message. Red Alert has left. Red Alert enters the Autobot Shuttle . Astrotrain is not up in the area of the main fighting, having chosen his vantage point well for now, the towering forms of skyscrapers keeping him well shielded. Still, a couple of Exo-suits fly past overhead, prompting him to duck now and then, "Heh heh, it's like a swarm of mech-bees!" Jayson Redfield says, "XABAT! Show yourself, you damned coward!" Smokescreen doesn't have to wait for an answer from Red as he hears the sound of numerous soldiers disembarking from the ship in the distance just in time to be cut apart by Silverbolt's line of laser fire. "What the...man, they look nastier then the bouncers on Xylos 2! He begins to run toward the grouped soldiers, raising his weapon, before lowering himself into a crouch and firing off a burst. Finding himself presented with a task that requires limbs Smokescreen transforms into his brightly painted robot mode. Smokescreen strikes Raptian Army with Pistol. Lord Chumley says, "Hello, my boy! Say, why don't you come live with us? I have this great big elephant gun that needs both barrels cleaned out! Dinsmoore only did it twice yesterday, and that is not enough!" Jayson Redfield says, "..." Jayson Redfield says, "No. Go to Hell." Comcast says, "Honestly, these earth creatures are so /aggressive./ Swearing the demise of each other and wishing infernal punishment on their fellow kind for wishing to make an offer." Powerglide says, "Go to hell, whoever you are!" The opening shots from the Autobots and EDC drop numerous exo-suits. They fall to the ground like flies, smashing against pavement and through the roofs of buildings. But there is a horde of them, and soon their ranks are filling the city, and, assisted by their thrusters, they zip up and down the streets, shooting everything below. Meanwhile, the Concurrence Ship steadily approaches Times Square, deploying landing pads. On the ship's bridge, Xabat sneers as he points at the viewscreen. It's zoomed in on one of the exo's. "Is that... is that Jayson Redfield? Oh. Oh my. So fierce!" He giggles. Lord Chumley watches the same video, looking sad. Excise says, "Yes, their constant warfare is terrible and they should be ashamed of themselves." Foxfire says, "Speak for yourselves..." Grimlock says, "Yeah. Me Grimlock much better at warfaring!" Compton Xabat says, "...hold, on, be right with you..." Raptian Army misses Grimlock with its Evisceration attack. Comcast says, "And yet /we/ are the violent ones." The Creepy One: Sunder says, "there is no shame in violence. It is merely the natural order of things." Comcast says, "...Perhaps. Though the Decepticons are the 'wicked' ones. The 'bad guys'." Astrotrain says, "I say we should be filming this and selling it as pay per view to other races." Exo-Armor Talon Robot speeds after the Concurrence ship, leaving the Raptians to the others. Xabat is the only thing on Jayson's mind now. One way or another, he's going to take that terrorist down. He positions his Talon in front of the ship, transmitting, "Get OUT here, Xabat! Otherwise I'll blast a hole in that ship of yours and drag you out myself!" Comcast says, "Yes but you say that about everything, Astrotrain." Shadow stays out of this conversation... Astrotrain says, "So what's wrong with tryin to make a bit of profit!?" Comcast says, "Not everyone is as interested in such, well, 'simple' things, as you are." Comcast suddenly recalls the hours after hours of earth entertainment media he has had to monitor. "...Forget I said anything." And the melee is joined! Grimlock blazes away at the Raptians with his laser blaster- until one comes a-soaring up to him, intent on vengeance for all the mayhem Grimlock did to their tiny home planet! Grimlock remains steady, though- and simply grabs hold of the attacking Exo by its head- and, rearing back with his arm, he *HURLS!* it at three more of its fellows! The dinocommander glances after Jayson...and grunts. "Him humie have right idea!" Grimlock says, looking back at Smokescreen. "Me Grimlock say us get in there and SMASH STUFF!" Grimlock strikes Raptian Army with Fling!. Smokescreen lowers his laser pistol as Grimlock bellows in his direction, glancing at the oncoming army, before flashing the dinoboss a grin and transforming into his stock car mode. He reves his engine, causing the Raptian soldiers who had been haeding in direction to stop briefly, but then both Smokescreen and the Raptians' charge each other at once. With a rapid arranging of parts and doors Smokescreen shifts into his stylish race car mode. The Raptians might be flying low, but they're still flying... and the straight grid pattern of Manhattan's streets lines them up nicely, Silverbolt thinks as he dives and flies nearly on one wingtip up an avenue, electricity crackling around his form and arcing out at the enemy exos. The other Aerialbots may laugh at his preference for nap-of-planet flying, but it's a good thing he has so much practice at it now, no? Silverbolt misses Raptian Army with his ZZZZZZAP! attack. Smokescreen lowers his laser pistol as Grimlock bellows in his direction, glancing at the oncoming army, before flashing the dinoboss a grin and transforming into his stock car mode. He reves his engine, causing the Raptian soldiers who had been haeding in direction to stop briefly, but then both Smokescreen and the Raptians' charge each other at once. From narrow slits in his bodywork two sharp and curved blades appear with the express purpose of cutting the Raptians down to size...perhaps literally. Private Jayson Redfield says, "Right into the danger zone..." Cadet Dea Kalle says, "You are a Tom Cruise fan, Jayse..?" The Raptian Army swarms all over the Autobots, but their relative lack of experience means their swings and attacks fail to connect on anyone! Grimlock knocks over a squad of them like bowling pins, much to their anger. They REALLY hate Grimlock. Smokescreen manages to chop off multiple exo-limbs, disabling them. Silverbolt doesn't have as much success, and a squadron of fighters descends upon him to attack! "This is our revenge!" cries one of the exo-suits as he flies about the city streets. "I, Archus, shall avenge the ruining of our world... by ruining YOURS!" Private Jayson Redfield says, "Heh...yeah, actually. But that song is just so perfect right now. Anyone, I'm goin' after Xabat himself. Wish me luck!" Raptian Army misses Silverbolt with its Punch attack. Cadet Dea Kalle blows kisses and wishes Jayson luck sweetly. Private Jayson Redfield OOC: Should be "anyway"... Smokescreen breaks out of the cordon of Raptian shoulders as they fall backward, either literally or figuratively, as those who weren't sliced and diced by his blades move out of the way to avoid meeting the same fate. As Smokescren snaps his blades back inside their housings, however, they rush forward to try and surround him and simply kick him to pieces. However the wily Autobot warrior has a trick up his sleeve: cutting the wheel to the right and maintaining his acceleration he begins to perform doughnuts just before two flame projectors slung under his from and rear bumper begin to spray jets red out flames in the face of the soldiers trying to surround and pound him. Smokescreen strikes Raptian Army with Fire. Cadet Dea Kalle says, "Sam-uel... personal status onegai..?" Grimlock grunts, smashing his way through the Exos. "Haw haw haw! Why you no give up yet? Me Grimlock think you still have time to surrender!" he grunts- and thenlooks over as Smokescreen wheels about, spewing flame...and it gives him an idea. "Oooh! Me Grimlock do that too!" he says- and, in a nod to unoriginality, he transforms to his terrible thunder lizard mode, and sets loose with some fire breath of his own! "Me Grimlock do it better though!" With a grunt and a growl, Grimlock changes into a robot T-rex! Watch out. Grimlock strikes Raptian Army with BURNINATION!. "Oh, you again?" Silverbolt dodges Archus' charge and a couple of buildings by pulling straight up and transforming. "Hey, I tried to help one of your guys," he points out as he lands on his feet. "That one with the stone wheel. Maybe you guys should have stuck with stone wheels," he draws back one hand to reply in kind to the Raptian's assault. The Concorde's nosecone snaps backward, arms and legs emerge, and finally Silverbolt's head pops up, looking slightly relieved. Silverbolt strikes Raptian Army with punch. From Exo-Armor Talon , Andi Lassiter is...helping out wherever she can, but staying out of the heaviest of the aerial combat, knowing that her piloting skills are more of a liability than an asset. Archus pursues Silverbolt! "Yes, no doubt you were planning on crushing the wheel before his very eyes, like so many of our other fine works that you carelessly destroyed! You Autobots... you're monsters! Monsters! Gah!" His rambling is interrupted by Silverbolt's fist to his face! Down below, whole ranks of exo-suits are set blaze, and they run about, arms windmilling and their pilots yelling comically. But soon, they are succeeded by a small force of tanks, which sets its sights on Smokescreen, attempting to gun him down! (Emphasis on gun!) Raptian Army misses Smokescreen with its Blade attack. (GUN I SAID!!!) Finding himself presented with a task that requires limbs Smokescreen transforms into his brightly painted robot mode. Smokescreen spins his wheels backward as he sees those tanks rolling toward him but throws himself forward at full acceleration. He transforms midway, leaping up into the air, before coming to land down on one of the tanks. He primes one of his special electrical devices before tossing it down the barrel of the tank he's standing on before running forward and jumping down off the tank before he can be fired on or blown up. "I hope they got those things insured!" Smokescreen strikes Raptian Army with Electricity. "Oooh, Tanks!" And with that, Grimlock fearlessly wades in amongst the things, lashing out with his feet & tail! Really, this would make a good movie, if anyone were watching... "Haw haw haw! THems no can beat me Grimlock! NOBODY beat me Grimlock!" he says, idly kicking another tank into a subway stairwell. Good thing it's evacuated! Grimlock strikes Raptian Army with STOMP. "I didn't destroy anything!" Silverbolt didn't hold back the Dinobots from destroying those statues on Rapt, either, and the frustration might be apparent in his voice to anyone playing close attention. "But that doesn't matter now, does it?" Drawing an energy sword, Silverbolt continues, "You want to fight, we'll fight." And he does, pressing his attack - though despite the energy blade not really having a 'flat,' Silverbolt appears to be aiming to disable or dissuage Archus rather than kill the Raptian outright. Silverbolt misses Raptian Army with his energy_sword attack. That takes care of the first wave of tanks! And no, they weren't insured. "Oh, gosh!" Berger yells, watching the fight from the safety of the Concurrence ship. "How am I going to make anything back on this battle?! I'm losing millions of dollars out there!" "Oh, hush, infidel!" Fakkadi snaps at him. "I gave up many gallons of my oil for this project! Do not be a batch! That is... the right word, yes?" the Raptians elect for some heavier duty weapons. Overhead, a bomber craft passes by over Grimlock and drops its payload of munitions right on top of him! Elsewhere, Archus manages to duck under the energy blade. He snaps back, "You certainly didn't stop your FRIENDS, did you?!" he yells. "For thousands of years you stood idly by while they annihilated our civilization! THOUSANDS of years! You are guilty of their crimes by negligence, and my ancestors have recorded your malfeasance well!" Raptian Army strikes Robot T-Rex! with Bite. Explosion! Grimlock is...not too phased. He pauses, and glances upwards at the dueling Arialbot and Archus. "Huuuuh. Whut?" he asks, and scratches at his helm. "Me Grimlock not there for very long! Me Grimlock got back to earth in time to watch Wrestling show! You make crazy talk!" The dinocommander grunts again, and sights in on Archus. "Me Grimlock say you come fight ME!" he snarls- and fires off his eye-lasers accordingly! Grimlock strikes Raptian Army with EYE LASERS.. Smokescreen doesn't have time to celebrate his destruction of the tanks as, high above him, the bombs start to fall all around. He transforms and, zooming forward through the jostling mob of Raptlian soldiers who aren't trying to get bombed to bits, unleashes his smokescreen to make it a little less easy for the bomber crews to blow them up. With a rapid arranging of parts and doors Smokescreen shifts into his stylish race car mode. Quickswitch says, "This is Quickswitch. Is any assistance or handling required?" Grimlock says, "Me Grimlock CRUSH stupid army!" Grimlock says, "Thems Smokescreen and Silverbolt help too." Quickswitch says dryly, "Save some for me." Smokescreen says, "Thanks, Grimlock. What you just said made everything worthwhile." Jayson Redfield says, "You...Quickswitch...we're in New York. The city is under heavy attack." Quickswitch says, "And you can't repell them yourselves?" Quickswitch says, "Them, I assume, are Decepticons." Quickswitch says, "They--" "Thousands of years? It looked more like a few hours. Hours that your leaders *staged* not caring how many of you got hurt or killed so long as it made a good show," Silverbolt deflects a stray shot with the energy blade. "And they don't care how many people get hurt now, either." He gestures around himself and Archus with his left hand, "This is a city of humans. People like you. They could have landed anywhere if they came for us, but Xabat and his friends chose this, chose a city with millions of people with only a few bridges and tunnels to get them away." Silverbolt's sword is ready, but he makes no attacking move, waiting for Archus' reaction. Red Alert says, "Not Decepticons. Aliens lead by Compton Xabat." Quickswitch says, "--WHAT?!" Snarl has arrived. Jayson Redfield says, "You heard him. Aliens." Through the magic of Cybertonian science, Snarl goes from a four legged Stegosaurus, standing up right now on two legs with a mean look on his face. Through the magic of Cybertronian Science, Snarl falls backwards and shifts from imposing robot into an imposing Stegosaurus. He still looks discontent. Archus yells in shock as the lasers score his exo-suit, but it's fairly tough so it manages to survive. His exo staggers from the blow. "Not there very long? Nonsense! Our... our history books have it all recorded and... eh?" The helmet of his exo swivels towards Silverbolt. "Just a few hours? No! It was millenia! Millenia of darkness and pain!" The other Raptian units are wandering around blindly through the streets, thanks to the smoke. They'd probably be shooting the Autobots if they could see them, but as they cannot, they don't. Likewise, the bombers and fighters are forced to postpone their attacks. There's a flurry of moving parts, and Grimlock changes to his robot mode! Grimlock grunts- and glances at Smokescreen through the, uh...smokescreen...and finally takes to the air! He soars on upwards, and heads over to Archus & Silverbolt, peering at the two. "Him plane guy right." Grimlock notes. "Only little bit. If it be long long time, how come me Grimlock not old and rusty and cranky like him Kup?" Quickswitch strangles a laugh, forcing his voice steady, "I'll be there as soon as possible!" Through the magic of Cybertonian science, Snarl goes from a four legged Stegosaurus, standing up right now on two legs with a mean look on his face. Jayson Redfield says, "Aliens are not funny!" Quickswitch sounds serious, "I never said they were!" Smokescreen says, "Guess you didn't see Gremlins then." Quickswitch says, "...What are those lifeforms?" Snarl, well, snarled lightly. He was late to what was sure to be a battle. That put him in a very bad mood. A very very bad mood. The Raptian Army might need to beware of the Dinobot once he got there. It shouldn't be too long though, as he was flying through the air. In robot mode, yes. He can't fly as a Stegosaurus. That would just be silly. Still, he was very angry. "Me Snarl shall squash puny invading army." He said, heading towards New York. Quickswitch soars down into view from the skies above. Quickswitch has arrived. Smokescreen stops with his homemade plume of smoke, coming to a halt, before transforming and peering upwards at the suddenly airborne Grimlock befoe turnuing to look into the sky at the also airborne Snarl. Momentarily cheered att he sudden prospect of reinforcements he looks around him at the sound of weapons being primed before he draws out a rubber shell launcher and begins to fire it at the soldiers around him. Finding himself presented with a task that requires limbs Smokescreen transforms into his brightly painted robot mode. Smokescreen strikes Raptian Army with Ballistic. Silverbolt looks wary at Grimlock's approach, as if expecting the Dinobot to either yell at him to fight or merely wade in and take on Archus himself. Only a brief flash of navigational lights betray his surprise when Grimlock actually joins the debate. "And how would you remember the stone wheel and still be standing here in an exosuit?" Silverbolt adds, "Humans invent and adapt to new technologies faster than most beings in the galaxy. But not *that* fast." Archus poses a moment. "Well... you're a machine, so... perhaps you don't decay that quickly?" He looks next to Silver bolt, and he seems to stumble back a bit. "I... do remember the stone wheel... or did I learn that in a history book? I... no, I must've been taught that." His hands go up to cover his exo's helmet, as if he's having trouble thinking straight. Several Raptians get knocked over by the rubber shell launchers and squirm about like turtles flipped onto their backs. Some of their friends, not suffering from Archus's conflicting case of memories, try to shoot the diversionary tactician up. Quickswitch was having trouble. Trouble understanding what everyone was in such a state about. The answer was simple, and the assault unit agreed. The jet, however, flew speedily to their destination, some densely populated area or other they would have to be careful around. Quickswitch mutters. Damned impossible organic blights, I-- "Hey Grimlock, Snarl!" Quickswitch finds himself greeting the airborne Dinobots, "Does anyone have a sit-rep here? Fill me in." Raptian Army misses Smokescreen with its Evisceration attack. Grimlock hnnns, and pokes Archus for a few moments. "Well, YOU not made of metal." he says, and pokes the exo suit again. "So how come YOU not all old and cranky and poopy pants yet?" Anubis soars down into view from the skies above. Anubis has arrived. "Hands off him, Grimlock," Silverbolt sounds calm, but looks ready to step in between Grimlock and Archus. "And you *do* owe them an apology for destroying their artwork. Even if it was of people who don't like us." "Me Snarl don't know. Just want to smash." Snarl said as he looked around. He pulled out his Energy Sword and swung it around a bit. "Apology? These those fleshies from that planet that were upset we cut off Compton's head?" Snarl asked, looking at the planes a bit closer now. "Can we smash them?" Smokescreen continues to fight his, for the moment, one bot war against the Raptalian Arny soldiers who begin to open fire on him in an attempt to take a few pieces out of his colorfully painted exterior. Smokescreen's not a bit of it, however, as he continues firing with his own nonlethal but yet potent nonlethal weapon back at them. Smokescreen strikes Raptian Army with Ballistic. Cadet Dea Kalle says, "Sam-uel? Status report, onegai..." From Exo-Armor Talon , Andi Lassiter notices that the Autobots have these..Rapt people well dealt with and uses her Talon's scanners to locate Jayson. She radios to the other Talon, << Sam, I'm going after Jayson. >> Exo-Armor Talon enters Central Park. Exo-Armor Talon has left. Exo-Armor Talon Jet turns his jet to follow in formation with the other. Exo-Armor Talon enters Central Park. Exo-Armor Talon has left. Archus stumbles backwards from the poke. "I... no, you met my ancestors. And yet... I remember you meeting them... as if... as if I was there myself? What is wrong with me... no! This is a trick! A trick to make me turn against the Caretakers! I won't fall for it! Aahhhhh!" Suddenly, he lunges at Silverbolt, apparently unaware that his men are being nonfatally picked off one by one. Up in the air, high above, is a dark humanoid figure flying over head, apparently using some form of Anti-grav technology as it moves through the air. As it gets closer to the combat, it comes to a halt and hovers there. The jackle like head looks downward at the fighting below, however his target is in central, or so he has been notified by an outside source of central attack. So while the autobots played here-- he go help the EDC, which is where the dark figure zoomed too with speed. Raptian Army misses Silverbolt with its Claw attack. Anubis enters Central Park. Anubis has left. Quickswitch says, "Hey--who was that?" Quickswitch says, "Some guy with a canine-head just flew by. I'd follow, but it looks like we've got our hands full here." Auto-Junk Dee-Kal says, "Humanoid but with a canine head, yes..?" Quickswitch says, "Yes, that would be the one." Snarl says, "Sound like odd alien." And as Archus lunges forward, Grimlock attempts to grab hold of the Exo suit with those big hands of his. "Hn." he says, and gives Archus a rattle. "Me Grimlock pretty sure it YOU. Not many humans wave rock axe at me Grimlock." he says, nodding sagely at this- and he peers down below as Smokescreen does his job...and then over to Snarl. "You Snarl help him Smoke guy!" Auto-Junk Dee-Kal says, "Ah, if that is who I believe, it is Anubis." Swift says, "Who's Anubis?" Auto-Junk Dee-Kal says, "He is a vigilante of a sort, but is an ally to the EDC And to me. I suggest monitoring him, but he is not an enemy." Kup says, "Got any idea who he is?" Auto-Junk Dee-Kal says, "If you ever have smurfed the movie - he is a sort of Iron Man-Bat man. Iron Dog, perhaps." Auto-Junk Dee-Kal says, "Hai, I have vague notion." Private Jayson Redfield says, "I can't...I can't see..." Kup says, "Hm. Well, if he starts hurtin' innocent people, we'll need to know his identity. An anonymous exo-armored maniac is not something the Earth needs right now." Red Alert sounds like he's making a very deep frownie-face. "Doesn't 'vigilante' mean, by definition, that he's taking the law into his own hands while working outside it? I thought the EDC were supposed to be enforcers of Earth's laws?" Auto-Junk Dee-Kal says, "Oh, no. He is not that sort, Papa. AS to his identity..." Jayson Redfield says, "A-Anubis...he's an ally..." "No trick," Silverbolt shakes his head as he dodges Archus' lunge. "You don't have to turn against anyone. Just..." The Aerialbot commander looks sadly around at the damage before turning back to Archus and Grimlock, "We can't end the millenia of pain by dealing out more damage." Auto-Junk Dee-Kal says, "NEgative, MASter Red ALert. Not in this case." Snarl smiled. This was a scary sight on the normally frowning and grumpy Dinobot. If Snarl is smiling, then things are going to be destroyed. "Me Snarl help Autobots." Snarl said, flying towards the jets now. With his Energy Sword, he went and with a *SLASH* and *SLICE* tried to cut through the wings of the jets. Not as non-lethal killing as Silverbolt might want, but, well, at least it gives the Raptians a chance to get out. Snarl misses Raptian Army with his Wing Clip attack. Kup says, "Eh, yeah, he's probably breaking all kinds of HUMAN laws, Red. But I don't think we should get involved unless he goes over the line." Private Jayson Redfield says, "Sam...? Andi? Where...where are you?" Red Alert sounds mightily suspicious, but replies only, "Yes, sir." Andi Lassiter says, "Not now, Jayson." Auto-Junk Dee-Kal says, "He will let us know his identity when he is ready, I think. It is all part of how it works. He is in secret hero mode." The jet form answers no one, with a sneer, "I suppose I ought to engage. What's the damned point if we aren't taking them out permanently?" The jet descends, a hideous and blocky thing with wings, coming in low enough to buzz them, to cause a swath of them to part with his passing, "These petty little games." Private Jayson Redfield sounds desperate, panicky. "I can't SEE, Andi! I CAN'T SEE!" Andi Lassiter says, "Jase, calm down. Now." Grimlock succeeds in grasping Raptian Army, throwing it off-balance. Private Jayson Redfield goes quiet. Has he passed out? Apocryphacius says, "Oh dear!" Quickswitch says, "Red Alert, you're decent enough. I'd like to have a word with you about this mission when it concludes." Red Alert says, "... Good to hear I'm decent enough, Quickswitch." Quickswitch misses Raptian Army with its grasp attack. The Raptian Army seems totally disorganized at this point. They're running through the city haphazardly, without any sort of plan. Most of them get cut down by Snarl's thrashings or Smokescreen's rubber shells. More throw themselves to the ground as the fighter buzzes them. They seem to be on the verge of defeat. And suddenly, Archus's exo-suit opens up, revealing the man himself. "I... I guess you're right... we're not really a violent people, we just wanted to be left alone!" Tears stream down his face. "I've dreamt of this day for a long time, but now that it's here, I don't know... all I feel is doubt and confusion!" Smokescreen keeps his rubber shell launcher trained on the largely cowering army as their leader begins to engage in blubbering. Cue tender music. "Uuuuuh. Okay." Grimlock says as the human starts to cry and sob and otherwise be human. "Hnnn. You Silverbolt deal with this." he grunts, and shoves him over towards Silverbolt. He hmms, and lands on the ground again, flexing his hands as he peers off towards where the spaceship went. "Hnnn. Me Grimlock wonder if thems spaceship still here." Snarl flew around a bit more, slicing and slashing at more jets, starting to frown a bit. "They not fight back, not even like last time. This not any fun." The Dinobot said. Stopping his attack, he looked around some more. "Grimlock, Snarl don't get why they not fight. They no want to fight us now? They gonna turn over what's his face now?" He asked. The spaceship is still in Central Park, right where it landed originally. Inside, Berger, Arkeville, Fakkadi, and Chumley are all watching Grimlock and Snarl approach the ship. "Oh, sh*t!" they exclaim simultaneously. The assault unit is about to transform into its laser pistol form when the leader of this army reveals itself. Approach with caution! Quickswitch instead transforms to robot mode, blasters in hand. A pensieve frown pulls at his mouth. The Six Changer approaches. Approach with caution! Quickswitch advises, headfins rotating doubtfully, "Uh... Now what, guys?" "You're like most of the people who live in this city, then." Silverbolt smiles briefly, hopefully encouragingly, and before he can say anything more finds Archus being pushed at him by Grimlock and reflexively moves to catch the semi-suited human before any exposed parts slam into anything from the force of Grimlock's shove. Grimlock glances over at Quickswitch, and waves. "Heh! You Quickswitch come with us Dinobots! We gonna smash that thing!" Grimlock grunts, and pulls his energo-sword out- it makes a very good pointing device (amongst other things, really). "Them army guys smash too easy, so we get guys in charge!" Anubis arrives from Central Park to the south. Anubis has arrived. Exo-Armor Talon arrives from Central Park to the south. Exo-Armor Talon has arrived. Exo-Armor Talon arrives from Central Park to the south. Exo-Armor Talon has arrived. Exo-Armor Talon Robot immediately starts to chase after Xabat, finally speaking and using that tone that Sam knows means danger. << Don't let that dirtbag get away! >> Her Talon stomps right up to and hops over Jayson's fallen exo-unit, probably jostling the pilot inside. Steeltread enters New York City from inland New York state. Steeltread has arrived. Exo-Armor Talon Robot on the other hand, stops chasing after Xabat immediately once he starts to run away. Sam leaves the Exo-Armor Talon . Sam has arrived. From Exo-Armor Talon , Being unconscious (and STILL bleeding), Jayson is unaware of Andi. Yeah. Snarl smiled. "That make big boom if we destroy." He said, holding his own Energy Sword. He moved it around with practice ease, or so it seemed, almost as if balancing it out some. "Me Snarl think we should just take out the shuttle's bridge. Solve problems at once." Snarl went and began to attack the shuttle's bridge, but stopped his blade short, smiling still. He wasn't going to really destroy it. That'd be too easy. MEANWHILE Compton Xabat finally emerges from the top of the Concurrence ship in his exo-suit! "Wait, I surrender!" he cries, hands up. He holds that pose for a moment before he snaps his wrist blaster up and fires it at Jayson's face. "Ha, just kidding!" Then he ignites his thrusters and flies off for Central Park! Central Park Encircled by water, the city that never sleeps has been forced to grow up instead of out, and the Canyons of Steel are steeper than ever, their metal spires a striking contrast against the seeming wilderness of the park. To the south sprawls the tangle of downtown Manhattan, the massive United Nations complex now rising high to rival the skyscraping Empire State building. The sloping glass wall of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, repository of many of Earth's greatest art treasures, reflects the sunlit sky on the east side of the Park. Crowds throng the park no matter the weather, walking, hoverboarding, playing or simply relaxing. Wide open spaces combine with stretches of crowded pines and maples. Exo-Armor Talon arrives from the crowded New York City environs. Exo-Armor Talon has arrived. You strike Exo-Armor Talon Robot with Wrist Blaster. From Exo-Armor Talon , Jayson Redfield yelps as the blaster hits his Talon's face. He shakes his head. "Stupid...that's a cheap trick!" Although he *did* know Xabat wasn't being serious about surrendering. He takes off after the other exo. "Get back here!" A laser fires from the exo's arm-gun. Exo-Armor Talon Robot strikes you with laser for 7 points of damage. Compton Xabat laughs, "Oh, Jayson, what a cad you are!" Landing in the middle of the park, he quickly whips around and fires a high-powered blast at Jayson's suit. "So easily angered! So easily baited! So easily led AWAY FROM HIS FRIENDS!" He discharges a bolt from his plasma rifle! You strike Exo-Armor Talon Robot with Plasma (Medium Power). From Exo-Armor Talon , Jayson Redfield says, "Ow." The bolt hits its mark, sending a shocking sensation throughout Jayson's body even through his armor. The Talon starts to fall, but only for a second before Jayson manages to regain balance. "I'm sick of you toying with me, Xabat! What grudge do you have against the Autobots?" A blade extends from the Talon's wrist, which he then slashes at the Fire Exo's chest. You evade Exo-Armor Talon Robot's blade attack. Compton Xabat bats the blade aside and counters with a punch! "What kind of grudge do I have? Haven't you been paying attention? If it weren't for the Autobots, the Protectorate would never have fallen! They've thwarted me at every turn, made me look like a FOOL..." You strike Exo-Armor Talon Robot with punch. From Exo-Armor Talon , Jayson Redfield huffs, even after the punch hits. "THINK, you idiot! D'you really think the Autobots would let madmen like the Protectorate run loose? They were a threat to the whole world!" He counters with a punch of his own. Exo-Armor Talon Robot strikes you with punch for 6 points of damage. Compton Xabat reels from the punch, but recovers quickly, attempting to sweep Jayson's feet from under him! "NO! We were the world's only hope, and we were rejected! I... I hate all of you!!!" You strike Exo-Armor Talon Robot with Kick. From Exo-Armor Talon , Jayson Redfield grunts as the kick hits the Talon's chest. "World's only hope? Stop deluding yourself. At the rate you monsters were going, the world would've been better off in the hands of the Decepticons!" He activates the machine guns, firing rapidly. You evade Exo-Armor Talon Robot's ballistic attack. Compton Xabat directs his exo to run behind a thick grove of trees, which absorb the bullets. "Better under the Decepticons!?" Xabat screams. "Have you lost your mind!?" Popping out from his cover, he sails over Jayson's head, blasting down at him with his plasma rifle. "You are a damn fool, Jayson! A damn fool! They're not even human, you idiot! What would make them better than us?!" Exo-Armor Talon Robot evades your Plasma (High Power) attack. Exo-Armor Talon Robot dodges to the side. "Lost my mind? You could say that. Although I might ask you the same thing. You're a monster, Xabat--you shot Spike Witwicky and poisoned Michael Briar. And guess what? *I* was the one who saved both of them. Imagine that; your little pawn ended up thwarting your attempts at murder!" He lets loose another laser blast, trying to knock out Compton's thrusters. Exo-Armor Talon Robot strikes you with laser for 7 points of damage. Exo-Suit Fire staggers as the laser burns a hole through one of his thrusters, and the camera on his exo's head swivels to the side, but can't quite get it in view. "Grrr... So you saved them both, did you? Small matter. Michael Briar died soon enough, and Spike is nothing but an old loser now. A has-been. In every way I have outlasted both of them. And who is left to stop me? Heheh, some naive punk kid! Ha! Ha ha!" His arm comes up and sprays Jayson with flames! Exo-Armor Talon Robot evades your fire attack. Exo-Armor Talon Robot ducks back, out of the flames' range. "Naive? Maybe? But I've got guts. And actual *friends*. Can't say the same for you!" He's growing exhausted now. He rushes at Compton's exo, again wielding the arm blade. Exo-Armor Talon Robot strikes you with blade for 5 points of damage. From Exo-Armor Talon , Jayson Redfield ponders... Exo-Suit Fire raises up an arm to absorb the bladed attack. "I have plenty of "friends," Jayson. I have whole legions of men who serve me, who share the same goals. You have two dogs and a family that won't stop crying if you tie it up! ERRRRAAAAHHHHH!" He attempts to grab onto Jayson's suit and deliver a devastating headbutt! Exo-Armor Talon Robot evades your ram attack. Exo-Armor Talon Robot ducks back again. "Minions are not friends. They only listen to you because you'll destroy them if they don't!" An idea comes to mind. A desperate one. He is still angry--furious. Jayson braces himself, and rushes forward again to ram into the Fire Exo. "DIE, YOU BASTARD!" Exo-Armor Talon Robot strikes you with ram for 6 points of damage. Compton Xabat counters, "No, they listen to me because they also want to see you brought to your knees, and besides, I pay them very well!" Jayson manages to tackle him through a tree and into the ground, slamming the terrorist mastermind against his harness. "Urngh! Heheheh, no, Jayson, neither of us will die, today. But YOU will be humiliated." Xabat then attempts to bring his rifle in under Jayson's gut, and discharges it almost at point-blank range. You strike Exo-Armor Talon Robot with Plasma (Medium Power). The blast is enough to knock the Talon from the sky. Well, sort of. It falls, but a few feet above the ground, Jayson regains control, and once more against, aiming an uppercut at the other exo. "Neither of us will die? I beg to differ! One way or another, you're going down!" Exo-Armor Talon Robot strikes you with punch for 3 points of damage. Exo-Armor Talon arrives from the crowded New York City environs. Exo-Armor Talon has arrived. Compton Xabat is knocked upwards by the uppercut, but is quick to snap back with .50 caliber rounds at his opponent. "You, bring me down? Come now, you're no Spike Witwicky. You're no threat to me at all! But don't worry, I'll *spare* you." You strike Exo-Armor Talon Robot with Wrist Blaster. Exo-Armor Talon arrives from the crowded New York City environs. Exo-Armor Talon has arrived. From Exo-Armor Talon , Jayson Redfield snorts, even as the blast hits home. The Talon is heavily damaged by now. "I'm so flattered," he remarks dryly. He goes in for another desperate move, attempting to tackle the other exo and knock them both out of the sky. "I've had the chance to kill you before! This time I'm gonna take it!" Exo-Armor Talon Robot strikes you with ram for 10 points of damage. Anubis arrives from the crowded New York City environs. Anubis has arrived. Exo-Armor Talon Jet flies in an elliptical pattern until Jayson's exo-unit is located, then changes to robot mode and approaches at full speed. The difference, Xabat, is that Jayson has friends. Twisting and shifting, the Talon exo-jet transforms into an exo-suit. Compton Xabat grunts as he is slammed into the ground! "Ennngh! Feisty! I can see why Lord Chumley wants to make you his OTHER manservant! Well, actually, I don't understand much of what that man does, but it doesn't matter." Kicking Jayson, he tries to blast him again will a full-powered bolt right through the chest. "Should've taken that opportunity, kid! You will NOT get another!" Exo-Armor Talon Jet is in formation on Andi's wing, back and to the right on the outside of the pattern. When the other Talon drops out toward the ground, this one follows suit. Exo-armor Talon Jet shifts into robot mode. You strike Exo-Armor Talon Robot with Plasma (High Power). Compton Xabat howls with laughter as he bathes his adversary in crackling, deadly energies! "So long, boy! Ha ha ha ha!" Exo-Armor Talon Robot lands with a heavy *THUD* (but hey, at least it landed on its FEET) then stomps toward Xabat and the heavily damaged Talon. No words of warning, no threats, just a weapon charged and aimed at the exo-suit Fire. Not far from Andi's own and Sam's and a bit higher up, is a sleek, dark humanoid figure moving over using anti-grav technology. As it enters the area it moves down a little by just hovering down slightly, however staying out of fireing range. What can be seen of it, is that this mechanoid being is human in apperance with solid black armor and gold designs running over the armor. Its yellow optics glow in the darkness brightly from the jackle sculpt like head, like that of the Egyptian god Anubis. Its fins under the ear, to the pack of the head are fully expanded out as he stares downward at the battle below between Xabat and Jayson. The optics seemed narrowed and no sooner then it watches the blast, it starts to lower itself down with an electrical blue crackle around its fingers flowing over his own arms before it lands down on the ground. The Anubis mechanoid seems highly calm in the circumstance. The bolt pierces the already damaged armor easily, sending metal shards flying in several directions. The Talon falls and crashes hard to the ground, a smoking, sparking mess. It lays there motionlessly, while Jayson groans and tries to regain his bearings. He is bleeding from several injuries, most notably from his forehead, a result of a few shards coming loose inside the exo itself. He simply lays there, a horrible realization coming to him. Everything around him is dark. "I...I can't...!" He coughs up some blood, almost ready to pass out. "Xabat..." Exo-Armor Talon Robot hits the ground and starts in a standard offensive pattern. That is to say, it begins crossing laterally across the designated field of battle while locking weapons on the identified enemy target. Compton Xabat giggles, making his exo crouch down by Jayson's suit. His own suit is not looking much better, but it is still functional. He giggles morbidly. "Heeheehee, I'm here for you, Jayson! Are... are... heeheehee, are you okay, in there? ARE YOU?" He gives the suit a good kick. "Are you? Heeheehee. Hm, must've had a hull breach, because something smells cooked, and I don't think it's me! Hmm. Now, what else should I do to you..." He aims his plasma rifle at the downed suit... and then finally notices the new arrivals. "Oh, oh my, your friends finally caught up with you!" Xabat sneers, his exo's camera focusing in on them. Loudly, he announces to them, "Hey, I think he needs medical attention! Some horrible person mutilated him! Heeheehee." From Exo-Armor Talon , Sam frowns inside his suit. He flips the PA on his suit so he can tell Xabat, "Stand away from EDC suit. Power down." From Exo-Armor Talon , Jayson Redfield has a plasma rifle pointed directly at his exo. Not that he can actually see it right now, but he has a hunch that Xabat is doing SOMETHING. As he steadily bleeds, he finally gives in to his injuries, falling into deep unconsciouness. Exo-Armor Talon Robot starts to approach on a direct line. From Exo-Armor Talon , Jayson Redfield says, "Andi's mad? Uh-oh. Better run away, Compton!" The mechanoid gets his command, and then its arms falls down by his side, before his foot pushes back slightly on the ground. The echo-mechanoid sounding deep voice calls out, "Compton! Your time ends here! So say I!!" Then with a strong push off, the Anubis mechanoid goes running at full speed, armed pulled back, with its taloned finger hand curled tightly into a fist, with an electrical surge running around the hand itself. The mech, is charging right for Compton! Exo-Suit Fire raises up its hands, as if surrendering. He steps slowly away from Jayson. "Okay, okay, man! I ain't got no beef with the police," he says, the jive talk sounding odd when mixed with his accent. "And sure, I'll power down in a moment..." Within his cockpit, Xabat smirks, planning on blasting Sam the instant he gets too close. Of course, that plan is derailed by Anubis suddenly charging in and punching him in the face. "Urf!" he grunts out, exo suit launched upwards a bit. Somehow landing on his feet, he turns back to the city and flees. "Bah! I've had enough fun with Jayson for one day! Time to regroup with my army..." And Anubis does give chase, unless he is told to stop, he'll be like a blood hound and chase down his prey. Compton Xabat glances behind himself as he runs. "Who *is* that, anyway?" he muses of Anubis. Outskirts of New York City New York always has, and always will be one of the busiest cities in the world. The Big Apple, the city that never sleeps...Now it is nearly the state that never sleeps. New York is following in the Tokyo tradition of spreading its tentacles into everything within reach, growing and expanding. The level of technology here is rivaled only in Tokyo, the original sprawl. But here there is something different, perhaps it's the attitude. Exo-Armor Talon Robot immediately starts to chase after Xabat, finally speaking and using that tone that Sam knows means danger. << Don't let that dirtbag get away! >> Her Talon stomps right up to and hops over Jayson's fallen exo-unit, probably jostling the pilot inside. Steeltread enters New York City from inland New York state. Steeltread has arrived. From Exo-Armor Talon , Jayson Redfield says, "Andi's on the rampage! Run for your lives!" Exo-Armor Talon Robot on the other hand, stops chasing after Xabat immediately once he starts to run away. From Exo-Armor Talon , Being unconscious (and STILL bleeding), Jayson is unaware of Andi. Yeah. Snarl smiled. "That make big boom if we destroy." He said, holding his own Energy Sword. He moved it around with practice ease, or so it seemed, almost as if balancing it out some. "Me Snarl think we should just take out the shuttle's bridge. Solve problems at once." Snarl went and began to attack the shuttle's bridge, but stopped his blade short, smiling still. He wasn't going to really destroy it. That'd be too easy. Anubis was close on the heels, if not just off a few steps from Compton's exo. The mechanoid could move, though perhaps-- it could over-take Compton if it wanted, but perhaps he was having to much fun just chasing. Compton Xabat hustles back in towards Central Park, where the Autobots are about to total the Concurrence Space Ship. This concerns him, of course, but he is also troubled by the fact that, despite being awkwardly shoved by Grimlock, Archus, the general of this new army, is apparently hugging Silverbolt and isn't completely sealed in his exo-suit. "What are you doing, you idiot!?" Xabat rages. "There's more right behind me! Seal yourself back up and fight." Archus looks back at Xabat, looking surprised. "But.. but sir! I'm not sure about this anymore. My memories... they're all wrong! And I don't want to hurt these people!" "You'll do what I tell you! Your questions can wait for later!" Xabat roars! "Now FIGHT!" Sam pops the hatch on his exo-suit and scrambles over Jayson's downed Talon, trying to get to the pilot. The Concurrence members on the ship huddle together in a cowering heap and shriek like girls as the tip of a huge sword pokes in through the ceiling. "We're doomed!" Berger whines. Quickswitch smiles, "Fine by me!" And transforms in a blurring motion to beast form, claws out and scraping the ground. Oh, how delightful, he supposes, how deserved--No--Quickswitch transforms again, to laser pistol mode--Ready to blast the ship full of holes--Quickswitch shifts several more times indecisively, excitable. From Exo-Armor Talon , Jayson Redfield laughs! Quickswitch rapidly transforms into a less than sleek laser pistol. Exo-Armor Talon Robot stomps after Xabat and Anubis as fast as possible, but is simply not as fast or as agile as the other two. Finally it takes to the air to try and get ahead of both and stop their headlong dash. Grimlock is positively whistling as he storms over towards the concurrence spaceship, thumping the flat of his Energo Sword against his hand. "You Silverbolt keep hugging that guy! Me Grimlock do smashing now!" he grins, and glances between Quickswitch & Snarl. "Me bet we can open it up like tin can!" From Exo-Armor Talon , Jayson Redfield says, "There was this time when several 'Bots took a hovercraft out into the ocean and were attacked by a giant squid. Grimlock called it a fish, Foxfire pointed out squids aren't fish...and Grimlock, who was outside the hovercraft, responded by piercing the craft with his sword, right in front of Foxy's face. It was awesome. :D" Anubis continued to chase, and with a good push off from his foot, the black mechanoid leaped in the air, going right for a tackle lunge into Compton's own exo, at full speed. If he missed, no big deal, he just roll back up to his feet and try to electric style. Anubis succeeds in grasping Exo-Suit Fire , throwing it off-balance. Sam mumbles something to himself that no one else hears, and starts cracking open the access panel to manually open the Talon. He has to run back to grab his emergency toolkit first, but he goes to work as quickly as he can. On seeing Xabat running their way, Silverbolt draws his electrorifle, the motion somewhat awkward as he tries not to disturb Archus any further in the process. "What you tell him? Or what's right for his people?" He aims in Xabat's general direction, but abstains from firing, not wanting to zap Xabat's pursuers in the process... or not wanting to provoke a reaction from the human he's still holding on to. Jayson's Talon is still motionless, almost as if the pilot is dead. Fortunately, this is not the case...hopefully. Meanwhile, his family is still barricaded in their respective basements, awaiting the time when it is again safe to venture out... "I have no objections," the assault unit replies to the Dinobot Commander. He figets in place, "Which way would you prefer?" Quickswitch asks, calmly. He demonstrates each mode just briefly enough. Let them handle it, Quickswitch prickles at the humans behind him. The fact that the shuttle now had a hole in it, especially the bridge, would be more than enough to keep it grounded. No one wants to go into space with out oxygen. Well, if you need such to breath. Snarl nodded some to Grimlock, pushing his sword in a bit further, and then starting to drag it along the shuttle. "Cut it like tin can full of air!" Snarl said, keeping it up. Cutting away, slowly, carefully, moving in such a way to scare the humans but not actually harm them. "Me Snarl am good with cutting. And bashing, and destroying... me good at all the fun stuff." Compton Xabat oofs! Anubis succeeds in tackling him to the ground, sending Xabat sprawling. "Arrrgh! Get off me, you... what the hell are you, anyway? EDC?" he rages at Anubis. He attempts to claw across the pavement away from him. "Gah. And shut your mouth, Silverbolt!" Xabat sounds like he's losing it. "What do I care what's right for them!? I made them to follow my damn orders! Not stand around like a bunch of conflicted idiots!" The surviving Raptian exos look at each other doubtfully. "Eh? Do something already!" Xabat screams. Archus looks at the weapon in his exo's hand, then looks around himself. "I don't know..." Meanwhile, as Grimlock and Quickswitch threaten to lay into the ship, and as Snarl cuts it open, the Concurrence members decide to have a race! "Last one to the escape pods is a rotten bastard! Ha ha!" Chumley laughs. Assault Battle Tank rolls his way into the area late....as usual. Torn between actually helping and remaining in hiding....he decides to help out. Though it DOES seem he's come to the finale....especially as he transforms and connects his rifle together.... Standing up and the main turret uncovering a backpack with a rifle to it's side, the body of the tank seems to shrink into the lighter, faster form of Steeltread. "You Quckswitch do whatever." Grimlock decrees, as he is a BRILLIANT TACTICIAN. And he grunts a bit, circling around the shuttlecraft- at which point he jams his OWN sword into it, "Lah lah lah, Me Grimlock am dino- ARGH!" he snarls, realizing just what he's talking about. Grrh! Well, that's just more anger for him to apply to the spaceship. *CRUNCH!* Anubis doesn't allow Xabat to get away, "You-- You have no right..." Anubis says coldly as he continues to hold on with his claw hand talons no less. "..Life is life-- no matter the form or being. You have no right!" Then leaping off Compton, he charges up a ball of electricity in his hands, before sending down a strong blast right for the exo. Lighting up the area with blue electrical energy as it surges downward. Anubis succeeds in grasping Exo-Suit Fire , throwing it off-balance. From Exo-Armor Talon , Jayson Redfield just lays there and bleeds. Yeah. :D Sam finally gets the hatch open and tosses his tools aside, climbing halfway into the cockpit to look for the (possibly dead) injured pilot. He checks for a pulse (using his magic First Aid skill). Snarl's still cutting away, actually starting to cut in a spiral along the shuttle. He stops for a bit though, looking at his work so far. Staring at it intently. Focused. Calm. Snarl then transforms into his Stegosaurus form and begins to apply large amounts of tail to the shuttle's side. "Shake things up a little!" Through the magic of Cybertronian Science, Snarl falls backwards and shifts from imposing robot into an imposing Stegosaurus. He still looks discontent. From Exo-Armor Talon , Jayson Redfield still has a pulse, but it's faint, an indication that his heart is weak as well. He has sustained serious injuries... As Snarl rips open the shuttle and Grimlock, brilliant as he likes to think himself--Quickswitch can't contain his enthusiasn, his excitement--How about that? Chew toys! His form slips into assault beast, claws spread apart and wings extended and smiling oh so smug with his ugly mug, "I'll enjoy chasing you down," Quickswitch smiles, the sentiment an honest one, "Doesn't matter to me how this ends, as long as I enjoy myself." The Sixchanger leaps up onto what remains of the top of the ship, raking his claws across it and arching his back, "Ahhh! Now, where did the humans get to?" The beast peers around, curious as a cat. Quickswitch swiftly transforms into a fierce Assault Beast. Sam runs back to grab his first aid gear. Neck brace, folding stretcher, everything a growing boy needs to survive after a plane crash. Climbing back into the other Talon as far as he can get, made difficult by the damage and angle, he goes about attaching the brace so he can then release Jayson from the safety harness and lower him down to the ground. Steeltread keeps himself under cover for the most part until he get close to Jayson's Exo...and consequently, Sam. "How is he?" he says quietly to Sam while the others are.....preoccupied. He keeps that rather large rifle pointed at the action..... "I would advise against running," Quickswitch tells the humans inside, if hey can hear him, "You're up against two Dinobots and a Six Changer--so maybe running might be the best action to take after all." Jayson Redfield leaves the Exo-Armor Talon . Jayson Redfield has arrived. The Space Ship was starting to have some interesting designs carved into it until Grimlock ruined it by caving part of the hull in! The Concurrence members flee from the damage, even as they stumble about unsteadily as if in the middle of an Earthquake, thanks to Snarl. "I do not want to die in America!" Fakkadi complains, shoving Berger out of the way as he hops into an escape pod. The others eventually find their way into escape pods, as well, and soon enough the pods are blasting up and away. Chumley even manages to wave at Quickswitch as his pod flies upwards. "Well, at least THEY got away GNNAAHHHHH!" His suit spasms as it shakes from the electric shock! "Dammit, Archus, assist me!" Archus, however, shakes his head and steps out of his exo. "No, Xabat. This fight is over. Men? He glances at his fellow warriors. "Stand down, and dismount." Soon, the entire exo-army is bailing out of its hardware. The Raptians, looking as human as Sam or Jayson would, look about the city with uncertainty, but perhaps a bit of hope? "Fine, then," Xabat says. Inside his cockpit, he secretly presses a button on a remote transmitter. "Die." Immediately, the Raptians all fall to their knees, screaming with pain! Jayson Redfield shows no sign of awakening. There's quite a bit of blood left behind in the exo itself. He's suffered nasty gashes, most notably on his face, particularly on his forehead and around his eyes. His breathing is soft and weak, and his body is limp, cold. Compton's really done a number on him. He is silent. "Argh! Come back and fight me Grimlock! Or surrender or...something!" Grimlock fistshakes at the fleeing supervillainy! "Hn. Thems run 'way just like septi-cons!" he grunts, and looks over at the Raptians falling to their knees, writhing in pain. "Uh. That...s'posed to happen?" From Anubis, Anubis growls as he sends out the transmission knowing fully well that had to be what it was, so he radios to all the units in the area, autobots alike, <<"Someone! We need a signal jammer stat!">> After that was sent Anubis then just lets himsel drop, his heel of his exo's foot going right for Compton's own exo.. and hopefully right for the spine, stomache area-- whatever direction he is on right now, that general area. If it would save the lives, he would take one here and now! Anubis succeeds in grasping Exo-Suit Fire , throwing it off-balance. The beast coils up with tension, crouches and leaps up after the escape pods, part amusement, part rage playing out frenetic in his six-cored central processor. The beast bellows, vocalizer raw, "You ain't gettin far! I got -SIX MODES!-" The beast climbs the air after them, ready to transform at a nano-second's notice. Grimlock says, "If only we had someone with advanced scrambler type weaponry!" Jayson Redfield says, "WB, Andi." Snarl says, "Sadly, I left my Technobot alt in my other suit." Quickswitch says, "Welcome back, Andi!" Quickswitch says, "Are Fakkadi et al supposed to get away?" Steeltread says, "they don't have it either." Kup says, "Yeah" Jayson Redfield says, "Is there a Technobot in your pants, Snarl?" Quickswitch says, "Aww damn." Grimlock says, "They're supervillains, Quicky. Escaping is what they do!" Grimlock says, "They took lessons from Cobra Commander. :)" Quickswitch says, "But--But--I can just transform and fly after them. :)" Snarl says, "If by pants you mean gut, then yes." Snarl says, "Escaping villains have a Velocity of 10000, Quicky." Smokescreen says, "It's how Octane managed to remain free for a whole episode." Quickswitch says, "Oh.." Jayson Redfield says, "They're like Batman villains. Even if they're thrown in jail, they'll just escape later on." Kup says, "It's called Plot Velocity" Snarl says, "Welcome to Arkham Asylum, the world's largest building of swiss cheese." Smokescreen grins at Kup. "Plot Velocity. I like that." Jayson Redfield hees! Smokescreen says, "Batman villians possess a reverse gravitional force. Even if they want to stay inside, like Mr. Freeze, something happens to get them taken out of jail." "I don't think so. They look like they hurt." Snarl said. He walked over to the Raptians carefully, and would poke some of them if he wasn't in his Stegosaurus mode. There wasn't much the Dinobot could really do. "NO!" Silverbolt sees Archus and the whole army seemingly being deactivated before his optics. Signal-jammer? There's only one way he can think of right now, and it doesn't even matter that someone else has caught up to Xabat - Silverbolt raises his rifle and fires, hoping to not hit Anubis in the process but really only thinking of hitting Xabat. Steeltread tilts his head as the mass of humans drop to their knees. "Now that's certainly a strange sight." He says almost coldly. he's no sniper.....but...perhaps he could learn how to be one in time." Sam's training gets him through checking Jayson for major injuries and slapping trauma patches over them to stop the bleeding. Oh, and shining a flashlight in his eyes. "Jayson?" Jayson Redfield still does not respond. Compton Xabat snickers, "Too late, fool! OOF!" He grunts as he gets kicked in the spine. "It's already started. These people? They're not really people. They're not even clones of people. They're artificial life forms called Synthoids, brewed up by the thousands in VATS to serve us! Now, of course, we couldn't quite figure out how to program all of their memories in, but we knew how to fudge things a bit. That's why we invited you Autobots and Decepticons to Rapt in the first place, so you could help us fill in the blanks! Well, unfortunately, we anticipated the possibility that they wouldn't quite be up to snuff, so we installed a chemical destabilizer in all of them. One little radio signal, and all of these idiots will get broken down into their base components." True to Xabat's words, the entire Raptian army begins to *melt* before everyone's eyes. "Heehee, lookit 'em go!" Xabat cries. From Exo-Armor Talon , Andi Lassiter finally catches up with Xabat and Anubis and reaches to get a hold of the Fire exo-unit regardless of whether or not the jackal-headed exo manages to gut-kick the bad guy. She's aware of everything going on around her, honest. But that doesn't seem to be stopping her from her objective: taking Xabat down. Something else immediately turns Quickswitch's attention, and he snarls in disgust at the sight of it, "Red Alert's 'no kill' order," he scoffs, at random, watching the false constructions writhe, "Useless." It isn't quite clear just what QUicky means by this. As Anubis looks upward and watches the being melt, something inside snaps.. snaps more mentally in the mind of the red-headed pilot within, which as Anubis steps back, even as Andi misses, he watches for a bit longer, then speaks, "You--" Said darkly as the jackle head slowly looks at Compton. "..monster.." He hisses out, "..i'll kill you... I'll break every bone in your bloody body!!!" Then the claws reach out to snag up Compton's exo and jolt it with electricity, "I'LL KILL YOU!!!!" Perhaps the only person here knew who was inside, would reconize why-- and perhaps-- maybe inside, the pilot could have been crying? It was hard to tell with a synth over the voice causing it to sound different. Anubis succeeds in grasping Exo-Suit Fire , throwing it off-balance. "Huh. That not s'posed to happen." Grimlock muses- and glances over at the grumbling Quickswitch. "Me Grimlock think it okay to not listen to red 'Lert sometimes." he says- and with that, he brings out his Galaxial Rocket Launcher with an ominous *KA-CHUNK!* "Hey! You other humies get out of way!" he says- and sets loose with a missile blast- the rocket streaks forward- surprisingly accurate! Though at his range, it's not too hard... Grimlock strikes you with Galaxial Rocket Launcher for 23 points of damage. You are very conscious that your life is in serious danger in this battle. "Woah!" Quickswitch transforms, looking up, way up, at Grimlock's rocket. Quickswitch springs up into his massive robot mode. Compton Xabat cackles as he manages to squirm away from Andi Lassiter. "Heheheh, might need a mop for that mess over there!" he snickers, indicating the Raptians, all of whom are dissolving into pink-colored puddles of mush. "Hahaha--GNNNNNGH GH GH GH!" Anubis has a firmer hold on him, though, and so manages to give him a solid jolt. "Ennnnngh, heh--ennhhh! All dead, ha--men, women, children, but they were all FAKES anyway! Who gives a crap? HA HA HAAAA! Can't stop me---ARRGH!" The galaxial missile slams into his suit, knocking him clear of Anubis and flinging him through the air, and into the base of an office building, where he crashes right through the windows. The exo tries to push itself up, shudders, then its limbs give out, and it appears to go still. Steeltread since Sam is currently distracted in getting jayson better, he turns his attention towards the psycho human. He levels his rifle and takes his own shot...and hopefully hits compton's exo... Steeltread succeeds in grasping Exo-Suit Fire , throwing it off-balance. "Me Snarl think Grimlock just slipped and didn't mean to fire." Snarl says as he watches what is happening. Its not that Snarl is calling Grimlock clumsy, but Red Alert could overlook a misfiring if it was an accident. "Him Red know crazy bat here?" From Exo-Armor Talon , Andi Lassiter immediately goes after Xabat again as Grimlock's missle knocks the Fire exo-unit into a building. She manages to not block Steeltread's shot, though, but just barely. The Fire Suit explodes when Steeltread blasts it. As its flaming wreckage scatters across the block, on may wonder: is this the end of Compton Xabat? As Steeltread takes the shot, Anubis is already chasing down the exo flying. Watching Steeltread's shot pass by him at the exo. His arms swung back and his body running and full speed. It seems Andi has the same idea as he does, however-- he doesn't believe it is the end... and if Compton is still alive-- he wont be for long when Anubis(or Andi) get there and find him. As for the Raptians, every single one of them has completely dissolved into a puddle. Their war machines linger nearby, lifelessly, like statues. Grimlock glances at Snarl. "Hey! Me Grimlock better-" he pauses, and the subterfuge finally sinks in. "Ooooooh. Uhm. Me Grimlock ack-see-dentally a-splode him." Jayson Redfield is fortunate enough to not have witnessed the Raptians' fate. As Sam tends to his wounds, he may notice that Jayson's abdomen is badly scorched from a plasma blast, although Sam's probably taking care of that, too. His pulse seems to be gradually fading, but it still weakly remains. Not much left of Xabat's exo-suit, except for flaming bits of wreckage. As for the maniacal terrorist himself, there's no sign. Maybe he did die in the explosion? Silverbolt lowers his weapon, "You're not the only one who wanted to, Grimlock," nodding grimly at the Dinobots. "Whatever they were, they chose not to keep following orders. They were people... and Xabat killed them all for it." From Exo-Armor Talon , Andi Lassiter stomps into the ruined building and starts scattering the ruined exo further, as if looking for proof that Xabat is dead. Because she WON'T believe it until she's got his disembodied head on a stake. Or his nogging on a pike. Either would do. Quickswitch shifts modes, nervously, "Nice shot," he tells Steeltread, the sudden lack of anything to do and the surrounding threads of the aftermath taken in by his accelerated processors and he's /painfully/ bored. There's no charred skeleton in the wreckage. Sam obviously isn't going to be able to keep Jayson alive here for very long. He leaves all his tools and medical supplies on the ground and rushes back toward his Talon, activating his radio as he runs. He climbs inside, and without bothering to close the hatch (too much time), he moves it to quickly but carefully pick up Jayson's stretcher, and books it as fast as is safe out of the park. Anubis slides to stop and starts to check the area as well, however instead of inside like Andi, he checks around the area. After all-- This.. Pilot, seemed highly intelligent. The wierd ones normally were-- however, this didn't say much for Anubis' pilot either... The assault unit looks on, "What is the matter with that human?" it near-demands, indicating Jayson. Steeltread gets up and trots his way over towards the destroyed Exo......his helmet's visor glowing. "He probably escaped." He then looks back to Jayson. "He looks like he needs Medical attention." Astrotrain has TOTALLY been here the whole time. No really, he's just been keeping a very, very low profile. Things got chaotic, they got messed up, and he's not entirely sure what happened, but there is the probability that many squishies got...well, squished. The big triplechanger cautiously peers from around another building, finally deciding to put his weapon away as it seems like the best of all this is over. "Coulda used more squishins..." he muses. "...but not bad." From Exo-Armor Talon , Andi Lassiter snaps out of her anger when she hears Sam's signal. She mutters a curse, then replies. Grimlock glances over the battlefield, and hmms. "Hnn. Look like fighty time done. Hrrn. Me Grimlock go get some energon. Smashin' stuff make me Grimlock hungry!" and with that said, he takes off! Grimlock has left. Anubis continues to search and radios Andi, <<"No sign of Compton.">> He slams his fist into the already destroyed building in frustration as he bends over. The optics seeming to dim nearly offline, whispering softly, "..bastard.." Sam doesn't hesitate, and heads off toward a particular hospital. With the city in chaos, he has to fly to do it, weaving between tall buildings, scraping just over cars packing the streets, and people cowering from the recent attack. Snarl looked around and snarled a bit. "Evil fleshies get away. Me Snarl smash next time. No stopping." He said. Will Jayson survive his injuries?! Only time will tell! Yea.. he will. Exo-Armor Talon Robot stomps back out of the building. << Then he's still out and about. You'd better leave. >> Her own exo unit takes to the air to follow the route that Sam just took. Astrotrain should be taking advantage of all this chaos, were he the tactical sort. How easy would it be right now to take somethig of value that would no doubt be good to boost his personal energon stash back at base? Unfortunately he's not the tactical thinking type, and right now with the excitement over, it seems like it's time to go, as he turns and walks further down the street to find a proper spot to take off. He pauses next to a billboard depicting a man clad in a cowboy outfit, posing dramatically as he advertises some men's aftershave. After a moment, the triplechanger produces a transformer-sized marker and goes to work... ..leaving a pair of devil horns and a devil-goatee scribbled in place. THE HORROR! Quite satisfied now, Astrotrain takes to the air, transforming as he rises and blasting off into the sky in a blazing trail of vermillion! The Anubis stands there for a moment longer before, looking upward as his optical sensors flicker back online. He does make note of Astrotrain-- and would give chance-- but he rather grumble about missing his chance to make Compton pay, however-- next time, next time.. he will kill him. He swears it!